<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Broken to Be Made Whole by vanillafluffy</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24347371">Broken to Be Made Whole</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillafluffy/pseuds/vanillafluffy'>vanillafluffy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mad Max Series (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:16:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>633</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24347371</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillafluffy/pseuds/vanillafluffy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The prompt was, "Sometimes the brightest light comes from the darkest places."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Broken to Be Made Whole</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cozy_coffee/gifts">Cozy_coffee</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For one of my favorite muses.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Like an approaching thunderstorm, they can see it coming. Little by little, dark clouds gather. Max’s partner sees him becoming edgier and edgier, more and more angry that there is no end to the daily crime and misery they see. His wife, Jessie, feels helpless--no matter how hard she tries to make his off-duty hours pleasant, nothing works--not hearty meals or treats or light conversation. Best not to talk about their sex life, which is either fast and joyless or ends with Max clinging to her, sobbing. </p>
<p>It comes to a head after he takes down Immortan…he’s been on their radar for a few years, a skell who runs guns and drugs and traffics women and children. Max busts Immortan on his way out of town, his trunk filled with an alarming quantity of phentanyl, some highly illegal semi-automatic weapons…and the body of an OD’ed teenage boy wrapped in a tarp in his backseat.</p>
<p>You’d think he’d be happy, but by now he knows the truth--soon, there will be another psycho filling Immortan’s battered boots, doing as he pleases, hurting people and taking whatever he wants.</p>
<p>Now, Max is in the squad room, nodding at everyone’s congratulations as if he’s actually accomplished something…. <i>The tide goes out every day,</i> he wants to say, <i>but it always comes back.</i></p>
<p>Somebody drops a carton of papers. It lands with a reverberating thud and Max jumps, alert for trouble, because there’s always trouble and he’s always, constantly, eternally alert. It’s exhausting.</p>
<p>He knows it’s an over-reaction--no one else has done more than glance in the direction of the sound--but he’s spooked, and mad at himself for being so twitchy. He doesn’t consciously mean to do it, but he slams his fist against one of the file cabinets that lines the room.</p>
<p>It booms even louder than the box did, so he does it again…and again.</p>
<p>He isn’t aware of the low growling noise he’s making, just keeps smashing his fists against the unyielding metal and adding a few kicks for good measure. He can’t punish Immortan or his ilk the way he wants to, and he has to lash out at something he can’t hurt.</p>
<p>When the rage is gone, he’s sitting in the back of an ambulance, not quite sure how he got there.</p>
<p>He recognizes the paramedic, a woman named Furiosa who’s helped at many accidents and crime scenes he’s worked. Today, he seems to be her patient--she’s dabbing disinfectant on his bloody knuckles and wrapping them gently in gauze. “What happened?”</p>
<p>She looks into his eyes, a wiry, competent woman who’s on a short list of people he really trusts. “Good, you’re back. You had a little meltdown at the station. Don’t you remember?”</p>
<p><i>oh God.</i> There’s shame and horror that he lost control like that. “Did I hurt anyone?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Furiosa says, not breaking eye contact. “You hurt yourself. You probably have some broken bones. They’ll do x-rays when you get to the hospital.”</p>
<p>Glancing out the window to avoid her searching gaze, he recognizes the road they’re on…it doesn’t lead to the regular medical center. “Gonna put me in a rubber room, huh? For the best, I guess….” </p>
<p>If he’s losing his mind, it’s better that he’s where he can’t hurt anybody. Everyone thought he was such a hero for being the one who finally caught Immortan. He chokes. Some hero! “I’m as cracked as Humpty-Dumpty--they’ll never put me back together again!”</p>
<p>Furiosa rests a compassionate hand on his shoulder. “You need rest and therapy, but I promise, you won’t always feel the way you do now.” There’s a sad smile on her face. “I’ll tell you a secret, Max--<i>everything</i> is cracked, really. That’s how the light gets in.”</p>
<p>…</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>